Teachings
“Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; / incline your ears, listen to the words of my mouth.” — Psalm 78:1
I know there are some who would accuse me of being a voracious reader. Yes, guilty— I admit it. And I read mostly non-fiction. But, rumor to the contrary, I do read some fiction (especially science fiction— that’s my thing, I’m sorry).
Now, as to that non-fiction end of the spectrum, what I read is quite eclectic. I read everything from real science (as opposed to its fictional counterpart) to biography to history to mathematics to sociology and, of course, theology.
On the other hand, there are some books I’ve avoided and that includes ones on theology. Once, way before I entered seminary, the well known German theologian Hans Küng published the work Does God Exist? Surprisingly, that work reached the New York Times bestseller list, so I sought it out.
I distinctly remember going to a bookstore, taking it from a shelf and hefting the book. It was heavy. I turned to the last page, just to see exactly how long it was— 839 pages.
As I held the book in my hand, the only thought running through my head was: “Hans! You blew it! You wrote 839 pages when a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to answer the question ‘Does God Exist?’ would have saved a whole lot of trees. I placed the tome back on the bookshelf and I walked out of the store.
I never have read that book. And, yes, I have read some of Küng’s work— like it or not, you get to read some of what famous theologians say while you are in seminary— but I have not that one.
Despite the fact that I have not read this work, I do know some things the book has to say because of my seminary experience. So I need to offer some of that information in defense of Hans.
In this work— Does God Exist?— he tries to explore the difference between intellect and the will, between emotion and reason, between heart and mind. After all, most people think faith takes up where intellect can go no further. Most people think faith has nothing to do with fact. But is that true? (Slight pause.)
When I was a kid on the mean streets of Brooklyn a common thing to say, a common taunt was: “I don’t know and I don’t care.” Even back then, as a child, I realized the truth of that. I realized if one does not know, it is nearly impossible to care. And that sentiment especially applies to relationships. So, I take this to be a given: the better you know a person, the more you care.
Indeed, I believe not only are knowing and caring intertwined, I am firmly convinced knowing and caring winds back to faith and facts, which are also intertwined. To explore that idea, that facts and faith are and need to be interconnected, let me run some statistics by you.
Before I do so I want to offer the caution that surveys can be poor measures at best, but these number are from one survey. Did you know that about 34% of Americans believe in UFOs? To go along with that, about 30% take the Bible literally. 33% believe in ghosts. 25% accept astrology as fact based. [1] (Slight pause.) My bet is you’re seeing a pattern here. It’s a fairly close matrix, isn’t it.
The famous astronomer and cosmologist Carl Sagan said that of all the possible reasons people give for UFO sightings, ‘beings’ visiting from another planet or another galaxy is the least likely— the least likely— explanation for UFOs. I think the same is true of all those numbers. The explanation being insisted on for the phenomena being referenced is the least likely choice. (Slight pause.)
So, listen again to these words from the work known as Psalm 78: “Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; / incline your ears, listen to the words of my mouth.” (Slight pause.)
What is the teaching in this Psalm, the teaching to which we are instructed to incline our ears? What are the facts of faith— facts of faith— presented? (Slight pause.)
(Quote:) “In the sight of the ancestors / You performed marvels / in the land of Egypt,... You split the sea and led them through it, / You made the waters stand like a wall. / You guided them with a cloud by day, / and all night long with the light of a fire.”
This is the teaching to which the Hebrew Scriptures always return. God rescues the people of Israel from Egypt— not how God rescues but that God does rescue the people of Israel from Egypt. In referencing the Exodus event, the intent of the message here is to be clear that God is the one who offers salvation.
Indeed, please note that our culture seems to think the important part of the Exodus event is the giving of the Commandments. No. The important part of the Exodus event is the relationship God establishes with the people of Israel in bringing them out of Egypt.
The important part of Exodus is not Sinai. The important part of Exodus is Suez: the crossing of the sea. Hence, to coin a phrase, and say it briefly, the important message of Exodus is Suez not Sinai— Suez not Sinai.
You see, the giving of the Commandments, the Sinai event, does not do much to establish a relationship or to forward a relationship. These are rules. These are limitations. The action of the escape from Egypt both establishes and forwards a relationship.
I need to note that when a Jewish family sits to celebrate the Passover Seder together, they remember the escape from Egypt. The giving of the Commandments on Mount Horeb is not mentioned once— the Passover event is central. (Slight pause.)
I want to come back to the simple question Hans Küng broached: “Does God Exist?” Surely, the answer ‘yes’ requires faith. But is faith sightless? Is faith based in ignorance? Or does faith require us to be educated?
The short answer is ‘yes’— faith does require us to be educated. The longer answer has to do with that 34% who believe in UFOs, the 30% who take the Bible literally, the 33% who believe in ghosts and the 25% who accept astrology as fact based.
Frankly, it would be a cheap shot to say these people who believe these things are ignorant. They are not. It would be an even cheaper shot to say they are stupid. They are not. It would be the cheapest shot of all to say they are gullible. They are not.
The most likely explanation for what, on the surface, seems like a good portion of the population failing to base their judgments on fact is that they are not culturally attuned to basing those judgments on fact. And this is especially true when it comes to Scripture.
And what are the facts found in Scripture? The claim made by Scripture is that God seeks to be in a relationship of covenant with humanity. The claim made by Scripture is that God loves us. However, the claim made by not just our culture but by many cultures is that rules matter more than relationships— a cultural claim— rules matter more than relationships— not the claim of Scripture.
So, since the facts presented to us in Scripture are these: God loves us and wants to covenant with us, what is it we need to learn? (Slight pause.) I could be wrong, but I think the piece that we need to pay attention to is to ask: ‘what the stories found in Scripture mean.’ Meaning trumps everything.
People too often ask ‘what do the stories say?’ because that response is culturally ingrained. But, if we ask ‘what do the stories mean’ then we have come to a place where true learning about what Scripture tells us can start. (Slight pause.)
That saying I leaned on streets of Brooklyn: “I don’t know and I don’t care” is true. If you don’t know, you will not care. That sentiment, to reiterate, especially applies to relationships.
So, I take this to be a given: the more deeply you know God, the more you will care about God, the more the covenant God has made with humanity, this covenant which says ‘God loves all people’ will matter. And because of that, the more you know about God the more you will know something about loving neighbor. (Slight pause.)
Who is watching carefully now? Did you notice something different about the bulletin today? The opening hymn was labeled a “hymn of love.” The middle hymn was labeled a “hymn of covenant.” The closing hymn was labeled a “hymn of trust.”
Love— God loves us; covenant— because of love, God covenants with us; trust— we often think in terms of humans trusting God. But we need to think of that the other way around. Yes, we should trust God but God trusts us to love others. Now, that is really amazing. And that is a learning. Amen.
09/25/2011
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “I can sum up the Bible in one word: ‘love.’ But, to be more expansive than that, let’s use those three mentioned earlier: ‘love, covenant, trust.’ If we don’t understand the meaning of Scripture with those words, if we insist there is more to it, we don’t understand Scripture.”
BENEDICTION: The grace of God is deeper than our imagination. The strength of Christ is stronger than our need. The communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than our togetherness. O Holy Triune God, guide and sustain us today and in all our tomorrows. Amen.
[1] http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,99945,00.html
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